Bankruptcy filings drop 10 percent in April

Rochester-area bankruptcy filings fell 10 percent in April, figures compiled by the Western District of New York Bankruptcy Court Clerk show.

The drop continues a long decline in the region’s bankruptcy filings, which have fallen steadily in every year since 2010. A 17.8 percent spike in January—the only month in which filings rose in more than a year—appears to have been an anomaly.

The 199 bankruptcies filed in the Western District’s Rochester division in April showed a 22-case decline from the 221petitions filed in April 2012. By Chapter, the region’s April filings broke down to 137 Chapter 7 cases and 62 Chapter 13s. No Chapter 11 cases were filed.

Chapter 7 filers petition the court to clear their debts by liquidating assets to create a fund out of which creditors might get some or all of what they are owed. Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 filers file plans to partly or fully pay creditors without liquidating.